Big Brother

Dear Connor,

You're a big brother! For the past nine months, Daddy and I talked to you about your MuiMui--how she was growing inside my belly, how you will have someone to play with and how you will also have someone to protect and take care of--and she finally arrived last week! 

I wasn't sure how you'd react to MuiMui's arrival. When we met Uncle Ray and Aunt Sylvia's new baby girl last summer, you were quite smitten with her. You marveled over her tiny fingers and toes, and when I held her, you sat next to us and kept trying to press your cheek against her head. And when MuiMui was still in my belly, I'd lifted up my shirt to scratch my stomach. You pulled my shirt back down, patted my tummy and said, "Good night, MuiMui." But would you be so sweet to MuiMui once she was outside of my belly and around all of the time? 

You are still very attached to me and can be a bit possessive of me. You often shout for my attention if I'm talking to someone else instead of to you. At your birthday party last year, whenever you saw me hug someone, you ran up to me and insisted that I hug you, too. I was once holding your friend Audrey's hand and when you saw that, you yelled, "Mommy hand, Mommy hand!" and urgently held out your hand for me to hold as well. And one time, your Aunt Han--knowing how possessive you are of me--kept hugging me in front of you and each time, you screamed, "No!", pushed her off of me and crawled into my lap to mark your territory. Sheesh. So you can imagine why I was worried about how you'd behave seeing me hold and nurse MuiMui multiple times a day. I didn't think you'd be happy and our initial FaceTime conversation while I was still in the hospital with MuiMui confirmed that. When you first saw Daddy and me on the iPad screen, you excitedly said, "Hi Mommy! Hi Daddy!" and started happily chatting to us. But when Daddy turned the camera onto MuiMui, who was sleeping in my arms, your whole demeanor changed. Your expression became stone-cold and you pushed the iPad away. PoiPoi put it back in front of you but you pushed it away again. You didn't want to have anything to do with it and refused to talk to us. Uh-oh. 

Thankfully, you were completely different when we brought MuiMui home. When I walked through the door with MuiMui in her car seat and set the car seat down on the floor, you ran up to her and said, "MuiMui so cute! MuiMui so cute!" Later on, I was holding MuiMui in my lap and you ran to get a blanket and placed it on top of her so that she wouldn't be cold. You also kept bringing her different toys and books and showing them to her.

And over the last few days, you have continued to be a sweet, caring and attentive older brother. You constantly tell me that you want to "See MuiMui" when she is sleeping upstairs in her room and give her soft little kisses on her head. When MuiMui opens her eyes, you get excited and say, "MuiMui looking at you!" When MuiMui is crying, you tell her, "Don't cry." And today, you wanted to help me burp her and gently rubbed her back. Thank you for being such a good GeGe. I'm very proud of you and love you so much!

Love,

Mom